Tokyo Paralympics competition schedule announced, to be held from Aug 24 to Sept 5, 2021

TOKYO: The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) on Monday announced the schedule of the delayed Paralympic Games, which will be held from August 24 to September 5 next year.

The Games will feature 539 events, across 22 sports hosted at 21 venues.

"Tokyo 2020, the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee agreed in April that given the critical impact of the competition schedule on every aspect of preparation, each session of the 2021 competition would in principle be scheduled as originally planned for 2020," the organisers said in a statement.

"This has been reflected in the confirmed competition schedule, noting that for operational reasons the start and end times of certain events have been adjusted."

The first medalist will be decided in the women's cycling time trial pursuit on August 25, one day after the opening ceremony. On the same day, medallists will be determined in a total of 24 events, including 16 swimming events, four wheelchair fencing events and four cycling (track) events.

Athletics will feature the largest number of individual events at the Games, and all athletics sessions will include finals, resulting in 167 medal events.

The opening and closing ceremonies will both be held at the Olympic Stadium. IANS

Also watch: #NewsMakers: Being LGBTQ+ A Curse?